The Pancake Pantry, Nashville, Tenn.

How many different ways are there to serve a pancake? Well, if you take the word of Nashville's Pancake Pantry, the answer is 22. Yes, the Pancake Pantry offers that many selections of just pancakes on its menu, and it offers other selections as well for those who don't feel like trying the restaurant's namesake.


But if you're coming here, chances are it's for the round griddle cakes that are cooked to perfection with the lightest touch. Pancake Pantry's philosophy is to never pat a pancake because that squeezes the air out of them and changes the texture to something that is below their standards of quality. The result is several delicious cakes with a plethora of toppings available.


Want to go with fruit? You have your choice of strawberry, blueberry, cherry, raspberry, lingonberry, orange and an apricot-lemon mix. In a mood for the sweet stuff? Try the sugar and spice (pictured at top), Carribean, pecan, Swiss chocolate or chocolate sin (chocolate raspberry) pancakes. Want a mix of sweet and savory? Pigs in blankets or Santa Fe corncakes with green chiles are for you. In short, if you can't find something you like here, you just plain don't like pancakes.


Now, to address my meal here. As you probably gathered, I went with the sugar and spice pancakes, which are made from a cinnamon sugar batter and topped with powdered sugar and butter, then served with applesauce and either maple or cinnamon cream syrup. I chose cinnamon cream. I also added a side of hash browns, because they're pretty well-known for those too. If you go this route, I recommend pouring the applesauce on there too and getting all those flavors mixed together, like so.

The flavors work incredibly well together, and these are not small pancakes. They will fill you up, and you will not leave here hungry unless you haven't eaten recently. If with a friend, I recommend asking for one thing of hash browns if those interest you (the potatoes are really high-quality) and splitting them along with your separate pancake orders.


If you want something besides pancakes, Pancake Pantry also serves French toast, waffles and several egg-and-meat dishes. They'll go up to seven ingredients in their omelets. They also serve lunch items here, strangely enough.


As far as the atmosphere goes, this place attracts all of Nashville, but be ready for the college crowd. Pancake Pantry is right between the campuses of Vanderbilt University and Belmont University, which makes it an easy walk for students from both schools to get their breakfast fix. While I was here, I saw the Belmont softball coach take a player to Pancake Pantry as part of her recruiting visit. It's a great tool for those schools.


Recap
Time to go: Breakfast, and come early. Although Pancake Pantry is open from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m., the line increases exponentially after 9 a.m. Come at the wrong time and it'll take forever to get a table.


Wait during my visit: Get comfortable. The line was to the door when I arrived at 9 a.m. I spent roughly 20 minutes waiting for a table to pop free. When I left, the line was well out the door and circled around a side of the building. You have been warned.


Location: The Pancake Pantry has been at 1796 21st Avenue South  Nashville, TN 37212 since it opened in 1961.


Parking: There's a lot behind the restaurant, but this is also part of the come early recommendation. The lot is free if you use it for less than 90 minutes. If you're there at the wrong time, you'll have to spend a couple bucks.


Website: The Pancake Pantry


Signature items: Um...pancakes.

Edwards' Drive-In, Indianapolis

Pork tenderloin, onion rings, root beer

To kick things off, I'll start with the most recent restaurant I've experienced, that being Edwards' Drive-In in the state capital of Indiana. Edwards is your classic 1950's diner, known for serving huge portions of Indiana's beloved pork tenderloin sandwich with a frosted glass of homemade root beer.

For those who have never heard of it, the pork tenderloin sandwich is about as Indiana (and Iowa) as it gets. It's basically a pork loin pounded thin, breaded and fried, then topped with your standard hamburger toppings. What sets Edwards apart, aside from the 1950's atmosphere, is the sheer size of the tenderloin. The meat hangs a long, long way off the bun, which makes for more pork for your money. The pork is very good without the bread, cheese and condiments, but it really works well when you hit the inside of the sandwich and all the other stuff combines with the crisp breading and the flavor of the pork.

For your side, having spent 19 months in Idaho, I tend to prefer the potatoes, but you've got to go with the onion rings here. They are big and the onions stay crisp, flavorful and delicious throughout the meal. The onions are so good that they really don't even need the breading, and that's always a good thing when that's the case. Don't get me wrong, the breading is great, but when you've got a product inside that's so good that it tastes wonderful without it, you've got an awesome food item there.

That brings me to the root beer. Little-known fact about me, I'm not a root beer guy. I'm a sweet tea, grape soda and diet Mountain Dew/Coke/Pepsi guy. When I bought my home soda maker, I tossed away the root beer packets in the sample pack, because I just wasn't going to use them.


But this root beer is wonderful. First, they serve it in a frosted glass, just the way a good root beer should be served. It's ice-cold from your first sip to the last drop. Second, this root beer is homemade, and it's something special. The taste is wonderful and the cold temperature keeps it that way throughout your meal. It's good enough to make me like the taste of root beer.


As far as the atmosphere, it's a 50's diner and the jukebox does actually work without you paying for it. I found this out when I punched a few buttons and accidentally played "The Name Game". The other customers probably didn't appreciate that, but oh well.

Recap
Time to go: Lunch


Wait during my visit: Very short, served nearly immediately


Location: 2126 South Sherman Drive, Indianapolis, IN, inside of Interstate 465 but outside of downtown. It's in the southeastern part of metro Indianapolis, and it's not really close to a lot.


Parking: Plentiful


Website: Edwards Drive-In


Signature items: Pork tenderloin sandwich, onion rings, root beer

The exterior of the building